11 Comments
Published by Fidel Gastro
on Tuesday, August 29, 2006 at 4:19 pm.

This restaurant has been around for ages. This place is so famous that I haven’t met anyone who has not been there. Just in case there are some of you out there you have not been here, and have no idea where it is, it is near the Saint Francis Xavier Church along Jalan Gasing, and also very near the Federal Highway. Okay, now let us get down to business. First thing to note – there are quite a few schools here, so you might want to avoid this place whatever time it is school starts or ends. There are also many churches in this area so going for Sunday brunch/lunch could be a bit of a hassle. Next, once you park your car (parking is available all along the road in front of the shop), you have to dodge overly friendly waiters from the neighbouring banana leaf restaurant (which shall be reviewed in due course). Also, don’t be fooled by the corner shop beside Restoran Ipoh Chicken Rice, which also sells chicken rice. They are just capitalizing on suckers and people who are too impatient to wait. The shop itself is rather big, occupying 2 shop lots, and getting a table shouldn’t be too difficult unless you go right in the middle of lunch time. As you are facing the shop, the lot on your left is air-conditioned whereas the lot on your right is not. When you get into the shop you will notice that the floor is very oily. I hope this does not upset you as the oily chairs and tables are even less pleasant. I ordered chicken for 2 people (either their portions are too small, or the food is too good… I think it is the latter) with no pork balls or bean sprouts. The food didn’t take too long to arrive and didn’t look too good either. But I have learnt to not let that bother me. Perhaps the fact that is tastes so damn good helps. I ordered steamed chicken. It comes in soy sauce which is lighter than normal soy sauce. It is delicious. I could have rice mixed with the soya sauce for the rest of my life. Okay maybe just for a few days. The rice is, well, oily as you may expect. But it is also good. Every time I come here my half bowl diet goes down the drain. The rice has an interesting yellow colourThe star of the show is the chicken. I cannot really pinpoint what is good about it. I think it is more of an all-rounder with no bad points. The soy sauce is a big factor but it is also the tenderness of the chicken and the ginger taste. Heavenly. Another important factor to consider when eating chicken rice is the chilli, and the chilli here doesn’t disappoint. It tastes even better when mixed with ginger, which is available upon request. You will also get some soup with your meal. It is not ordinary crap chicken rice soup. I think it is the Pork Ball Soup, minus the Pork Balls. And it is good, though I get the feeling it isn’t very healthy… but then again, nothing in Restoran Ipoh Chicken Rice is healthy.

Overall, a very enjoyable meal. I never leave this place not feeling satisfied, except for the one time I got an oil stain on my shirt. The average price here is around RM6 per person, which is high for chicken rice, but still worth it.

I will give this place a 8.5/10.

Restoran Ipoh Chicken Rice is open 7 days a week from 10:30 AM to 10:45 PM.

1 Comments
Published by SikBaoMei
on Monday, August 28, 2006 at 9:43 am.

It was a lazy sunday. I actually decided with my friends that we will be going for a haircut in some saloon located in Aman Suria. It was said that the hair stylists there were pretty gals clad in mini skirts, oh well so we thought to go and check it out :p We didn't have lunch yet, so upon arriving in Aman Suria's precinct, we thought to go for a quick lunch. There is a shop called Sun Yun Long coffee shop, where it is said that its famous for "Pak Kopi Peng" (Iced White Coffee) which originated from Ipoh, so we decided to try it out. Looking for a parking was easy over there, but we had to wait for a table. Ok finally, we got a table, sat down, ordered some drinks and had a cigarette to think of what to eat over there. Finally i decided to call "Pork Ball Yee Mee". Awaited 5 mins and it arrived, you can have a look at the picture to see how it looks like. After taking a snapshot, i started off with the pork balls first. It was ok, with some "mouth feel", and the yee mee also comes with an egg, but the egg didn't look that pretty to me, and there is also some mince meat to go together with the egg, So it was still ok. On to the yee mee, I would say its good as it gives you a springy feeling, not too chewy but just the way it should be I would say. And the cake of the day is the soup, its really really tasty, not too much Ajinomoto(Preservatives), and it goes together with the yee mee really well ! It was not too salty, I had no problem finishing up the soup and won't yell for water! To conclude here, I would say the soup base is really good, with the springy yee mee, I would say this delicacy faired out pretty well. I would give a 8/10, just that the presentation was just ok to me, I am the kind of person who looks seriously on how my food is served. If I am not mistaken it was priced in the region of RM 3.50 - RM 4.00, pretty standard pricing in Petaling Jaya. Anyways, after the lunch, a sexy hair stylist would be cutting my hair, so oh well just forget about lunch !

10 Comments
Published by Tongue of Fury
on Thursday, August 24, 2006 at 3:30 pm.

Hi gang, Tongue of Fury here sidetracking from my usual furious trip to Penang column to bring you what I feel is the BEST SATAY KAJANG THAT ONE CAN FIND IN PETALING JAYA.

The place is Hj. Samuri and it is situated in the Damansara Uptown area (behind Maybank, same row as the now defunct Fajar Shopping Centre). This place serves a good variety of Satay including: Chicken, Beef, Lamb, Rabbit, Venison, Fish, Chicken Liver and Beef Tripe. I ordered a few sticks of chicken and lamb and also one serving of Nasi Impit. Within 5 minutes, my food was brought to me. The kuah and chilli is seperated so you can play chef and adjust the level of spicyness to suit your own taste.

The Chicken tasted good as usual, there's something about the way these dudes marinate the chicken, it tastes so much better than the usual satay you get at kopitiams or mamaks. The lamb tasted pretty good too, tender and juicy. I'm not a big fan of beef satay, it's just too hard to chew. The kuah compliments the satay well, and its rare to see someone not scooping for a second bowl. However, this place can sometimes be quite inconsistent. A few of my satays were burnt to black almost entirely as you can see from the picture below.

After having the satay, if there is still room in your stomach, remember to try the ABC Teringin. It is a solid bowl of Ice Kacang and is the perfect icing on the cake after a scrumptious meal of Satay.

I'd try out the other types of satays (fish sounds interesting) if MFR would furnish me with some budget. As of now, we, the reviewers have to fork out our own money... the horror. Mr. Boss I hope you're reading this.

Final Verdict:

Taste: Good Ambience: Good (Shop was clean, TV for entertainment- TV3 that is, no astro here)Price: RM0.60 / stickRating: 8/10

*Look out for the antique typewriter on the counter as you pay for your food.

That's it for now, will be back with more from my trip to Penang. Until then, SEE YOU LATER ALLIGATOR!

After a gluttonous day of eating, what better way to top it all of but with excellent desserts. Across the street from the bean sprout chicken triangle, we spotted a small little shop serving tau foo fah and soya bean drinks.

Where is it? It is right opposite the bean sprout chicken triangle, where the daily night market happens everyday.

What is it?Tau foo fah is a custard like dessert made from soy beans. It is quite tasteless in general and is served with sugar syrup or brown sugar syrup. The special here is a black soy bean tau foo fah. This one is made from black soy beans (don't ask me what is black soy bean)

How was it?(9/10)The tau foo fah was excellent, smooth as a new born baby's ass. It melts in your mouth. Here, there is an option of three types of syrup, Normal, brown sugar or ginger syrup. I had mine with ginger syrup and it was the best in my opinion.

How Much was it?RM0.70 for normal tau foo fah and RM1.00 for black soy bean version. Too damn cheap if you ask me.

29 Comments
Published by Fidel Gastro
on Tuesday, August 22, 2006 at 10:53 am.

This well hidden restaurant was recommended to me by a friend. According to him, it serves the best pan mee he has ever had. With such a glowing testimonial, how could I resist? So I took down detailed directions and went on my journey. My co-pilot was Smoking Salmon. We lost track of where we were half way through the journey but somehow managed to get there without turning back or making any u-turns. I guess it was destined that I eat the pan min. So anyway, the restaurant is located along a road just off Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, near Chow Kit and the infamous Lorong Haji Taib area. Parking isn’t a problem as there are many lots all along the street.

At the restaurant, there probably wont be any place to sit. But don’t worry, sharing tables is the norm here. You will be ushered to a table with occupants and will be put in the uncomfortable situation of sitting and facing people you don’t know and probably watching them eat. Once you are comfortably seated, someone will come take your order. Please note that the pan min here comes in 1 size and with only 1 type of noodle. The only variable will be whether you want it dry or in soup. Seeing as to how this place is famous for the dry one, I opted for that. Next, you will be faced with a long wait for your food. They prepare the dishes in bulk but due to the number of customers, the wait is inevitable. When the food finally arrives, you will notice that it does not look very appetizing. It is rather pale looking and there isn’t much meat in it. Also, there will be a semi-cooked egg on top. The most obvious difference between this and normal pan min however is the fact that the noodles are round instead of being flat. A nice old lady will then put a container of chilli that looks almost black in colour on the table. This is what people come here for. You will notice that the chilli has a 50% chilli seed content. Scary… After taking your 1st bite, you will realize what all the hype is about. The pan min is absolutely delicious. The noodles have a very nice texture, not too hard and not too soft. The flavour is also very unique. The only ingredient I could identify was the egg I mixed in. For my next bite, I added some chilli. My friend, knowing that I have a weak stomach, warned me that the chilli is extremely spicy, and so I only took a tiny little bit of it. But even that little bit made the dish even tastier, although I did suffer from tummy burn later.

A problem for me here was that 1 bowl was insufficient to fill my burning tummy. However, a 2nd bowl could not be put into my tummy without experiencing some nauseous feelings later. I estimated my remaining stomach capacity at ¼ of a bowl. And luckily, Smoking Salmon is a 1 ¾ bowl guy, so we both filled up nicely. A lot of people come here and have 2 bowls to themselves. I think that this is due to the size and also to the tastiness of the pan min.

Once you are done with your meal, make your way to the stall in the front of the shop and pay the nice man with a pouch on his waist for your meal. One bowl of pan min costs RM4.60, and is rather expensive for pan min. However, as many others will testify, it is worth it.

Rating – 9/10

Disclaimer – I am not a voyeur. I am only an amateur photographer and therefore the photographs provided in my reviews are merely for educational and not aesthetic purposes.

UPDATE

Due to popular demand by all 1 of my readers, I enclose herewith a map for your easy reference.

2 Comments
Published by smoking salmon
on Monday, August 21, 2006 at 3:35 pm.

If you're like me and like taking long naps at work, nothing helps you on your way better than a banana leaf meal on a hot afternoon.

Fidel Gastro and I had been planning to review something other than Chinese food all the time, so Sri Nirwana Maju were the lucky recipients of our patronage. Although I hate driving to Bangsar during lunch hour, there have been many good things said about the food at this place so we had to try it for ourselves.

I'd been salivating all day at the prospect of a banana leaf meal, and it didn't take long for me to decide on fried squid and Mutton Masala. Fidel ordered a simple chicken curry, and proceeded to start a topic on the high cholesterol content in squid and mutton. I may soon have to find a replacement lunch partner who isn't a spoilsport, so let me know if any of you out there are interested.

A curious thing to note about this place is the number of waiters they hire to stand around. There are certainly a lot of them, and apparently they've got a little hierarchy thing when it comes to their work. Fidel motioned to a large, chattering group of waiters for someone to wipe our table, and none of them wanted to do it. Instead, they decided it would be easier to go look for a waiter with a 'trainee' badge so they could make him clean our table. Super cool dudes, these senior waiters. No wonder the trainees look up to them so much. Time to get down to business. The fried squid was divine, absolutely divine. Deep fried to golden, heart-stopping perfection, yet still managing to retain its tenderness and flavour. The portion was big though, even though i clearly specified that I wanted a single serve. Worrying thoughts about how much they were going to charge me for it crept into my head, but they disappeared when i had a taste of the mutton masala, which is cooked dry style. The mutton was very flavourful, and just spicy enough to suit my palate. Even the cucumber and long beans were nice, very fresh. I skipped the bittergourd and preserved dried chilli as extreme bitterness and saltiness aren't to my taste. Finally washed it all down with sips of Rasam, a gulp of milo ais and a lung-soothing cigarette. Ahhhhhhh....

In conclusion - that was an extremely good lunch. And a great nap at my desk after. Til next time.

5 Comments
Published by Fidel Gastro
on Thursday, August 17, 2006 at 12:18 pm.

I was alerted to this place by a friend of mine who told me that it is much better than my regular place, Restoran Sem Kim. Being a disloyal piece of crap, I naturally tried it out. Upon arriving at the shop at around 1am, I noticed that the shop was very crowded. That is always a good sign. So being stupid, I got all excited about it. I ordered my regular pork ribs with no mushrooms and no vegetables, and waited… and waited… and waited… and waited for my food to arrive. At my usual place, my food is ready the minute they see my car. Just as I was getting agitated, and stopped making polite conversation with those around me, the food arrived. And of course the first thing you must do when a steaming hot claypot of Bak Kut Teh arrives is to sample the soup. Please beware as this could cause severe tongue burns, and in turn will result in you not being able to taste the delicious Bak Kut Teh. The soup was, well, how do I put this, by normal standards, it was pretty decent. Just normal BKT soup, with a strong herbal taste. Nothing special, unlike my Restoran Sem Kim. HOWEVER, due to all the hype about this place, I would have to say that the soup was slightly disappointing. People are dumb.

The quality of the pork was a bit better than the one at my regular place, but still not very tender. There pieces of pork weren’t very meaty, which led me to believe that they must only use very well-toned, sexy pigs. I did not order any side dishes although I did see some yau char kuay on the floor and it didn’t look too good.

But just for the record, please note that I finished every piece of meat and every drop of soup because wasting Bak Kut Teh is a sin.

The meal with a Shit Cha came up to around RM9 per person, which is average.

As for the rating, I will try to be objective, but it is hard because I wasted a perfectly good opportuinity to have my favourite BKT to try this one, and I was disappointed, but I think a 6.5/10 is fair.

1 Comments
Published by Tongue of Fury
on Tuesday, August 15, 2006 at 4:02 pm.

Jagshemash! Tongue of Fury here with Part 2 of my day 1 food consumption escapades on the island of Penang.

Day 1Time: 5.00pmLocation: Corner shop, Perak Road

I am not a big fan of Asam Laksa, perhaps because of the sourness and the onions. But due to my commitments to the Malaysian Food Review, I duly accepted Thilamisu's suggestion of Asam Laksa for an evening snack.

This particular place is situated at a busy T-junction on Perak Road. This is Thilamisu's favourite place for Laksa, she constantly reminds me of how good it is and how much she loves it. We ordered a small bowl to share and also asked for two extra pieces of sotong (squid) balls. (no, I don't mean sotong testicles, I mean minced sotong shaped to the size of a ball) The noodles tasted good and all the ingredients were mixed well to achieve a good flavour. The sotong ball had good texture and has more flavour than the regular fishball.

Overall, a very solid bowl of Asam Laksa. My complaint: The sourness of the soup. I prefer my Asam Laksa sweet than sour, that's a personal preference though, the avid Asam Laksa fan might disagree. I also do not like pineapple in my Asam Laksa. Again, some of you out there might.

Final Verdict (Poor/Fair/Good/Very Good/Excellent/Outstanding):

Taste: Good

Ambience: Fair (Be warned, I saw rats the size of baby pussy cats)

Price: RM3.00 (includes two additional sotong balls) / dirt cheap

Rating: 8/10

That's all for Part 2 of Day 1, keep checking back for Part 3 is where I pay a visit to the infamous Gurney drive. Till the next time, keep those tongues wiggling.

0 Comments
Published by SekSun
on Thursday, August 10, 2006 at 6:34 pm.

We decided to take it easy and have some common dishes at night, after our exciting adventure at Lawan Kuda. We are always told, Ipoh has the best bean sprout chicken and kuey teow. So we decided to try it out for dinner. The famous Lou Wong in Ipoh has already exported this dish to KL with multiple branches around Klang Valley. Being the anti-favourites, we decided to try out Onn Kee instead.

Where is it?It is located in downtown Ipoh. Ask for directions if you are totally clueless. Every respectable Ipoh citizen will know where it is. It is located in what is a bean sprout chicken triangle.What is it?Bean sprout chicken is a dish made famous in Ipoh. The bean sprouts are cooked in boiling water till just cooked. Served in a sauce of soy sauce, seseame oil, garnished with chilli, spring onions and deep fried onion.The chicken is bak-zham-wat-kai style or white smooth chicken. It is also cooked in boiling water till just cooked to preserve the natural taste and juice of the chicken meat. It is served with soy sauce, seseame oil, and spring onion.Kuey teoy soup goes best with this combination. Ipoh's kuey teow is the smoothest around. Served in a clear soup, it is a great alternative to rice.

How was it?1. Bean Sprouts (8/10)The bean sprouts were almost twice as fat as those you'd find over in KL but somewhat shorter as well. It was crunchy and not overly oily at all.

2. Chicken (7.5/10)The chicken was juicy, and the sauce was light and complemented it really well. It was served hot as the chicken was scored with boiling water before being brought to each table. The chilli paste complemented the chicken well. But I personally would have liked some ginger paste, but apparently only shops in KL served chicken with ginger paste.

3. Kuey Teow Soup / Hor Fun (6.5/10)The kuey teow was the smoothest ever. But it was to be expected when you are having this in Ipoh.

4. Pork and Fish ball (5/10)This was perhaps the most dissapointing of all dishes. When restaurants diverse their menu to attract a wider crowd, the quality of their food suffers. Being a dished pushed to all tables, i was expecting it to be better. It was nothing more than mediocre. The shop at Jalan Gasing PJ definitely serves better pork ball.

How Much was it?The whole feast came up to about RM12.00 per person. Minus the Pork and fish ball soup, it was definitely worth it.

Will you return?Definitely. Make your way there the next time you go to Ipoh.

G-jap-jok (猪杂粥) or pork porridge is a traditional Chinese delicacy. There is a good one in Old Town Petaling Jaya. The place doesn’t have a name, so I’ll provide an address: Pusat Penjaja Seksyen 1/12 Selara Jati, Petaling Jaya.This porridge stall started out in the 1960s at the Old Town bus station, and was run by 2 brothers. They then shifted to their current location during the 80s. These days, the stall is managed by the younger brother along with his wife and son.

The main ingredients of the porridge include pig intestines, tongues, blood cubes, elbows and stomachs. I would say the most important ingredients are the fried intestines and boiled tongues, not just for the great taste, but also from the pleasure you get just from munching on them. The porridge stock is smooth and tasty as well, beautifully cooked with steamed fish slices. Cost is RM2.30 per bowl.

Besides porridge, the stall also offers a salted vegetable soup that is cooked with pig intestines and other ingredients. This soup goes brilliantly with white rice, and costs RM2.50 per bowl.

If you’re not a big fan of pig intestines, the gingery hard boiled chicken, which costs RM2.50, is not a bad choice either.

As tasty as the food is, it is also very economical to have a meal there. I will rate the place 8.5/10.

0 Comments
Published by SekSun
on Wednesday, August 09, 2006 at 12:02 am.

I'll be your guide for the tea-time snacks. After partially digesting our afternoon meal, we decided to head out and try the Ipoh tea-time eating scenes. We saw the usual fare of cakes, Coffee Bean, fried banana fritters before settling for a traditional kopitiam with a barely noticeable sign board.

Where is it?It is located in downtown Ipoh, perpendicular to the popular Ming Court dimsum place.

What was reviewed?We tried Ipoh's famous white coffee, Ipoh's famous toast bread and Prawn noodle.

How was it?

1. Hua Nam white coffee (7/10)The term White coffee originated from the outlook of the beans. Traditional Malaysian coffee blends are roasted with sugar and margarine. Giving it the black roasted colour we are familiar with. White coffee beans are roasted with margarine minus the sugar, resulting in a roast that is less dark hence the term "white coffee". The coffee served here both iced and hot are smooth and not too sweet. The coffee aroma is strong and great as a morning cuppa. View the cuppa here.

2. Toasted Bread with kaya and butter (Roti Kahwin/Yin Yong) (8/10)Kaya is a sweet concoction of coconut milk, pandan and egg jam. The bread used here is not the typical squarish "Gardenia" type bread, but the traditional longish loaf. What's so special about the toast here is that the bread is skilfully sliced in to half before both the thin slices are toasted. As a result you have a extremely crispy thin toast which was so good we ordered second helping for all. More pictures of it here.

3. Prawn Mee (7.5/10) We chanced upon this prawn mee while Bottomless Pit was looking around to fill up his well... bottomless pit. Newspaper cuttings in chinese proclaiming its fame that decorated the stall's walls drew immediate attention. Upon first bite, Bottomless Pit was impressed. I quote "the noodles are damn nice". Smoking salmon liked the dish in whole but for the lack of sizeable shrimps. The chilli tasted mediocre and could have been improved. Perhaps the claim to fame does hold weight. More pics here.How much does it cost?1. White Coffee RM1.102. Toast RM0.703. Prawn Mee RM3.00 (small) RM3.50 (big)Only slightly more than half a day here, and we already love the food found in this sleepy and dreamy town. Watch out for the continuation of DAY 1.

0 Comments
Published by smoking salmon
on Tuesday, August 08, 2006 at 10:20 am.

Here's where things started to get really weird. A sizzling hot plate was brought out and we were all about to get our first taste of Pig's breast, accompanied by Pig's liver. Despite never having eaten this before, Bottomless Pit started explaining how rare this dish was, as you had to catch a female pig who had just given birth. Yes, i'm aware that it sounds extremely cruel, but there it was in front of me, so I detached myself from my misgivings and helped myself to a few pieces of breast and liver. The liver was thoroughly cooked, and had a mild taste and tender texture. The breast had a unique texture, slightly spongey and chewy. The whole dish was served with both onions and spring onions. On the whole, the taste wasn't memorable, so I guess it's only popular because of its texture. Pukemon was clearly captivated though, and proclaimed this dish to be the best of the lot.

The last dish was something that could repulse even the most die-hard food lover. We were going to have crocodile legs and fermented bean curd in a stew, with skin, scales and claws all intact. Describing this will be difficult, but I will try. The skin is rubbery and soft, quite similar to the skin of a fish. Underneath the meat is very, very soft and smooth, and reminds me of frog meat. Tastewise, I thought it was excellent, once you got past the grisly looking skin.

Here's a yummy little close-up:

Our carnal appetites satisfied, we headed to our hotel in Ipoh for a much needed nap before tea.

Bottomless Pit has spoken fondly of his Anteater dish for so long, that we simply HAD to give it a go. So after a few wrong turns, we arrived at Restoran 668 in Lawan Kuda, Gopeng. The restaurant itself was an unremarkable outdoor Chinese establishment. The waitress pleasantly informed us that their stock of anteaters and wildcats had run out, and even raccoons were unavailable much to Bottomless Pit's dismay. Nevertheless, the waitress helped us settle on a 6-course lunch of Snake soup, Wild Boar trotters, Mountain goat stir-fry, Wild chicken stew, sizzling Pig's breast, and.... Crocodile stew. Curious? Read on.

Kicking off the lunch was a thick and robust Snake soup, filled with chunky snake flesh and eggs. While LAMBorghini's face went white with fear at the thought of having snake on the table, the rest of us dug in. The soup was aromatic and had a flavour that I would have difficulty describing, but the general consensus was that it was ok. The flesh was something of a mix between chicken and fish - a little too chewy to be fish, but a little too soft to be chicken.

After our taste for snake was satiated, and LAMBorghini had finished gagging, we got to work on the Mountain goat stir-fry. The Mountain goat's meat, or chevon, was very tasty and lean, and smelt like mutton. Along with the button mushrooms, tomatoes and spring onions, it was delicious.

We then moved on to Wild boar trotters. Served in a simple black sauce and topped with spring onions and dried chilli, the trotters had very little meat and were not really that satisfying.

Next up was Wild chicken stew. Unsurprisingly, Wild chicken was basically Kampung Chicken cooked with black fungus and fermented bean curd in gravy. Nothing here for even ardent chicken-lovers to get excited about.

0 Comments
Published by smoking salmon
on Saturday, August 05, 2006 at 2:33 pm.

On the 29th of July, a Malaysian Food Review team comprised of myself, SekSun, Pengkritik Makanan, Bottomless Pit, LAMBorghini & Pukemon made its way to beautiful Perak on an all-out eating trip.

Bottomless Pit got things underway by tempting us with some Ice Kacang that he claimed was the best he'd ever had. So we stopped by Restoran Foong Mun Kee in Kampar to put it to the test.

We settled on the 'Original Ice Kacang', even though some of us were hankering for the Special Ice Kacang which had ice cream on top. The original one costs RM2.50 per bowl.

These ice kacang makers must have dropped their standards, because all of us agreed that it was pretty average. The 'Original Ice Kacang' did not have quite enough milk or cendol, and even attap chee (palm fruit) was missing. Bottomless Pit paid the price for overrating this place, as he was forced to foot the bill.

Bottomless Pit was insistent that our next meal be at one of his all-time favourite restaurants. The dishes? Anteater and Wildcat. Readers with weak stomaches are advised to stop here. Otherwise, go on to the next entry.

I stumbled upon this restaurant one hot Sunday afternoon while looking for a place to eat where I won’t be drenched in sweat. There are not many stalls here, and the one dish that caught my eye was the pork ball noodles, mainly because of the bright green vegetables on top of it.

So I ordered a Pork Ball Yee Mee with egg and I didn’t have my hopes up as I had not heard any good reviews about the pork ball noodles here. However, once it arrived, I was pleasantly surprised.

The soup is, well, not exactly clear, but is MUCH clearer than the famous pork ball me at the restaurant down the road (which I shall review in due course). This extra clarity means that you lose out on flavour. However, for those concerned about living until 40, I would recommend sacrificing a bit of flavour.

They are also reasonably generous with their meat. However, I get the feeling their level of generosity varies with the time and how much stock they have left. But the best part is definitely the vegetables. They are really fresh. I don’t quite know what vegetables they are but if you just refer to the photograph that I have taken pains to provide I am sure you will figure it out.

The shop itself is much cooler (as opposed to warmer) than most of the others in the area, and although seating space is limited, they are usually not very crowded. Also, be sure to go early if you want the pork ball noodles as they usually run out by around 2pm.

In conclusion, this is a place I would definitely go back to. The average price is around RM4, which is slightly high in this area, but for the amount of meat and fresh vegetables, it is worth it. I will give the pork ball noodles a 7.5/10.

2 Comments
Published by Tongue of Fury
on Wednesday, August 02, 2006 at 3:28 pm.

Good Day Gluttons! Tongue of Fury here with my virginity-losing post on The Malaysian Food Review.

Recently, I had the honour of being sent to Penang Island, the good food capital of Malaysia to conduct a series of reviews to see for myself just what the hype is all about.

Day 1Time: 1.30pmLocation: Near Jetty, opposite bomba

My first stop after the epic 3 1/2 hour drive was this little kopitiam by the corner of a busy intersection near the jetty (I did not jot down the name of the kopitiam, I was lazy). I was told their beef noodle was 'quite good'.

First things first, most of the people in Penang speak Hokkien. So when ordering, if you do not know the language, get a friend who does. Or you can try speaking in English or Mandarin or Malay. If they still don't understand, try pointing.

Now let me point out that I'm the type that likes my beef noodle in dark soup, this place serves clear soup which was an instant turn off the moment the bowl was placed before me. Nevertheless, I gave it a go.

In my mind, what makes a good beef noodle is the soup. Surprise, surprise, the soup was good, the flavour was just right, not too sweet, not too salty. I then tried the flat noodles (hor fun), it was pretty good too, the texture was smooth and it wasn't the type that breaks easily. I then tried the rest of the ingredients- beef ball, meat etc. There was no let down here either as the beef ball had a bouncy feel and the meat was fresh and easy to chew.

I have to admit I was a little skeptical about the quality of beef noodles in Penang, but this has proven me wrong as it is almost as good as the beef noodle at Jalan Alor. (Ngau Kei, will do a review in the near future) It was like the time I rented 12 Monkeys and thought it would be crap but it wasn't crap. One complaint that I have is the price- a whopping RM6.00, which is rather expensive for Penang standards. But is the food worth the price? I'll put it this way, it will not be a stall that you'll visit everyweek, rather a stall you visit once every month or two.

Final Verdict (Poor/Fair/Good/Very Good/Excellent/Outstanding):

Taste: Very Good

Ambience: Very Good (Shop was clean and not hot)

Price: RM6.00 / Expensive

Rating: 8/10

That's it for my first review, please feel free to comment. More reviews to follow, till then, remember the name: Tongue of Fury.

3 Comments
Published by Fidel Gastro
on Tuesday, August 01, 2006 at 5:48 pm.

While my fellow writers were away without me, I drove down to OUG to try a curry mee dish that was recommended by a friend. The curry mee here is supposed to be quite famous according to, well, 1 person. I found it to be pretty average, but I guess that is because I used to have the most beautiful, lovely curry mee ever at Petaling Street. Unfortunately, that nice old lady decided to retire and to take her secret recipe with her.

Getting back to the OUG Curry Mee, I didn’t quite enjoy it because I prefer thicker soup/curry. However, someone I know commented that the soup is too thick!!?? Go figure. Another problem I have with this place is that they don’t give enough soup/curry. It dried up before I could even finish half of my noodles. What rubbish.

And do make sure when you go there that you specify whether or not you want weird stuff (innards) in your noodles. I am not quite sure exactly what part of what animal was in the bowl, but it didn’t look familiar. You have 3 choices of where to sit at this restaurant. On the inside there is air-conditioned or non-air-conditioned, or if you go at night you could choose to sit smack in the middle of the road. As forthe spiciness of the dish, I would say that it is not stomach-burn kind of spicy. Just maybe slight-mouth-burn kind of spicy. For your convenience, in order to gauge my tolerance to spiciness, my tummy burns after having a Spicy McDeluxe at McDonalds, or after 2 pieces of Hot n Spicy chicken with chilli sauce at KFC. Yes, I know. I suck. Average cost per person : RM4 – once again, average Rating - 6.5/10

While waiting for the team to sort out the the Ipoh and Penang trip reviews, I've decided to check out a very old and famous dish in the Petaling city area. This SeaFood Porridge at Kan Heong Coffeeshop in New Town PJ has been around since my father was my age and that's some 30+ years back. There is no sign on the restaurant, just a small wooden sign with Chinese characters stating it's name.

For those still in the lost, it is beside UOB Bank in New Town. It is also famous for it's stew duck with porridge or rice. But that's a story for another review. The most prominent sign you will see is this "The Boss Pub and Lounge" for the establishment above it. While waiting for the porridge to arrive, I ordered 2 sets of Roti Bakar. Now what sets it apart from the norm is that a charcoal grill is used to toast the bread instead!!! Talk about old school.

Now back to the porridge. The regular serving of the porridge is large. Presumably enough for 2 as many was seen sharing it. The ingredients in the porridge includes, medium sized prawns, clams (lala), fish and fish paste. The ample prawns are bouncing fresh with the black dirt down the middle cleaned (you have to give them awesome credit for this). The fish is superbly fresh as well. The lala is normal, while the fish paste is very tasty and bouncy, beating some of the stuffings made by famous Yong Tau Foo places. When you are lucky or stock permits, crabs are also given in the porridge. It comes served in a medium sized clay pot, that keeps the porridge warm till its last bit.Readers are forewarned as the porridge is very gingery in flavor. The porridge texture is of the very mushy type. The porridge itself is sweet and flavorful after being cooked with the fresh seafood. It's best that you leave the pepper and soy sauce out from your first bite to savour the fresh seafood sweetness.

So here goes the ratings:Food: 8/10 (for it's seafood freshness and ample ingredients)Cleanliness: 7.5/10 (despite being an old restaurant, it was just renovated and is very open and bright)Capacity: 7/10Ambience: 6/10Price: RM14.00 for small serving (slightly pricey but well worth the money)Variety: 8/10 (new rating for variety of food offered in the establishments). The place is also famous for its wanton mee (saw at least half the tables there eating a bowl for wanton soup), prawn mee, white curry mee and Teochew duck rice at night.